--- "llama_nom" wrote:

>> og drap svo niður málinu.
>
>MM & HP "and so you threw the claim out of court", but they must be
>paraphrasing here, as this is the 3rd person sg. of 'drepa'. What is
>the subject; is it impersonal "and so the case was thrown out"?

Yes, if you use this variant of the text - apparently it
derives from S ("Skafinskinna").

The ÍF text reads: "ok drap þú svá niðr málinu" which
is adopted from the gamma fragment of AM 162b. Gráskinna
(GKS 2870) has an almost identical text: "ok draptu svá
niðr málinu".

Reykjabók (AM 468) and Oddabók (AM 466) have: "ok drápu
svá niðr málinu", which would make "vinir" the subject.

One should always keep in mind that the manuscript tradition
of Njáls saga is extremely complex - possibly the most complex
of all sagas. There are between 50 and 60 manuscripts in
existence. 19 of these are thought to date from 1300-1550,
all on vellum, but none of them complete. A description of
the manuscripts can be found on pp. cxlix-clviii of the ÍF
edition.

Happy reading,
Eysteinn